Visually interesting and innovative shows?

Gillian · June 2, 2005

I love television but I seldom have time to simply sit down and watch it when it?s on. Who does, right? Luckily now we have DVDs!

As we all know, most television is very formulaic and does not vary from much from one episode to another. So, once you?ve watched one season, you?ve seen pretty much seen everything that they have to offer. Some shows are different-experimental and visually creative. I was wondering what television shows you thought were lit and filmed in visually interesting and innovative ways. Though I?m interested primarily in shows that can be purchased on DVDs (for region one) I am also just darn curious what shows you were interested in--what shows you find exciting and really enjoy watching!

Thanks! It?s been a real treat reading these posts every day.

Gillian

Wendell_Greene · June 2, 2005

CSI [- the first season photographed by Roy H. Wagner, ASC was amazing. I like the work of Nathan Hope the last two seasons]

X-Files- Seasons III and IV

Cold Case- great use of different formats to tell the story

Sopranos - Season I & II - Alik Sakarov (sp?) and Phil Abraham

Carnivale

Ckulakov · June 2, 2005

Gillian,

I think that the fox's O.C. has some very impressive 16mm photography. I think that there colorist comes up with some pretty good looking images. I really love the way the O.C. is shot because everything looks so glossy and lush. Every shot looks like a money shot.

June 2, 2005

Six Feet Under always looks great, as does Carnivale & Sopranos... in fact, most stuff coming out of HBO looks great. Check out Band of Brothers, too.

Thomas Del Ruth's work on The West Wing is great, but like everything connected with that show, it took a nose dive after Aaron Sorkin left... I don't think anyone was really excited about working on it after that.

Lost is always inventive, and I totally agree about the X-Files - some pretty amazing DPs have worked on that show, including Del Ruth. Also see Millenium.

If you can find it on DVD, Joss Whedon's ill-fated series "Firefly" is beautiful. There's a film soon to come out, but I think the DP is different. Buffy and Angel also had moments of greatness.

Also, check out the British series of Traffik.

Tim J Durham · June 2, 2005

I love television but I seldom have time to simply sit down and watch it when it?s on. Who does, right? Luckily now we have DVDs!
As we all know, most television is very formulaic and does not vary from much from one episode to another. So, once you?ve watched one season, you?ve seen pretty much seen everything that they have to offer. Some shows are different-experimental and visually creative. I was wondering what television shows you thought were lit and filmed in visually interesting and innovative ways. Though I?m interested primarily in shows that can be purchased on DVDs (for region one) I am also just darn curious what shows you were interested in--what shows you find exciting and really enjoy watching!

Thanks! It?s been a real treat reading these posts every day.

Gillian

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Deadwood on HBO is great looking. Every scene looks like it was shot au naturel. They make every practical feel like it's the key source and the sets are always perfectly realistic. Great show.

Jon Rosenbloom · June 2, 2005

"24"

Michael Most · June 3, 2005

Agree on Cold Case (shot by Cort Fey, a very talented guy I worked with on a pilot last year).

Although it's not often mentioned, I would also nominate Veronica Mars. Excellent use of color and framing for some really interesting storytelling. Shot by Victor Hammer, on S16mm, no less.

To be honest, I think there's far more excellent cinematography being done for television these days than ever before. Feature level production values are not only achieved, they're almost expected these days. The cinematic virtuosity displayed weekly on shows like American Dreams (shot by Brian Reynolds), Lost (Michael Bonvillian and John Bartley), Without A Trace (David Boyd), and countless others is, all too often, taken for granted.

J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR · June 3, 2005

Cold Case and Lost are my current favorites. I think some of the best TV cinematography ever done was by Bob Hauser on "Combat!" especially the first season.

June 3, 2005

Cold Case and Lost are my current favorites. I think some of the best TV cinematography ever done was by Bob Hauser on "Combat!" especially the first season.

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Oh my gosh, that was a great show! And you're right, it was filmed really well. It reminded me of the way the old Twilight Zone shows looked. Rat Patrol was another well filmed military show.

Cold Case is starting to bug me. Every scene is lit the same. Everything is incredibly bright, with a ton of light bouncing off people's faces. It looks as though it were lit for a photography session. I'm not saying it looks bad. But I keep wondering how every room in every building these people show up in has this incredible light coming through the windows. After a while, it starts to seem very unrealistic. Again, I'm not saying its bad. Just kind of unrealistic. Its like all the fancy lighting becomes too much of a good thing at some point.

Wendell_Greene · June 3, 2005

Agree on Cold Case (shot by Cort Fey, a very talented guy I worked with on a pilot last year).

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Yes, Cort Fey is a very talented filmmaker. Both he and Nathan Hope worked on a show for Fox called "Fastlane" which was a real 'guilty pleasure" for me to watch.